Crossing the Rubicon
by mascaret
Summary: With Carol having finally agreed to set a wedding date, Ezekiel seeks out a MIA Daryl for a long overdue conversation.
1. Chapter 1

A/N So I spent about 6 hours over the last 2 days writing a bunch of Carol-centric fics. Nothing has had time to be polished. Nothing has been beta checked but with the new episode coming out tomorrow I know that if I don't post them now I never will. Looking for someone willing to let me run a few Carol facts past them to make sure my memory isn't faulty.

_Crossing the Rubicon_

Daryl was so far downstream from Alexandria – from any of the settlements – Ezekiel couldn't have run into him by chance.

And apparently, he was planning to stay a while because he dismounted and hitched his horse to a nearby tree.

Daryl didn't say anything as Ezekiel took in the sights of his one man camp with its barbed wire fence and tin can alarm system.

Ezekiel spoke first, but he kept his opinion of Daryl's less than regal setup to himself. "You can't still really be hoping to find Rick – not after all this time. Not alive."

His brother Merle – well, his brother Merle minus one hand - had turned up months after he had been left for dead. Andrea had turned up almost a year after they had thought her gone. Hell, he'd once buried somebody and put Carol's scarf up as a grave marker before coming across her by then actually half dead trapped in a room not five hundred yards from where everybody else was.

But Daryl didn't feel the need to tell that to Ezekiel. Instead, he told him. "Walkers can't swim, but they don't stay in the water forever."

To that Ezekiel nodded in understanding.

"After we left Atlanta, after the CDC, we were stopped on the highway. Walkers came through. Carol's daughter got scared."

Ezekiel said her name softly, reverently. _"Sophia."_

Daryl gave a nod and continued. "She ran off. Maggie's father had a farm. On the farm, there was a barn. One of his men used to collect the walkers. Kept them in there."

A shadow came over Daryl's face as he explained why he couldn't give up on the search for Rick. "I'll never forget the look on Carol's face when Sophia came out of that barn. The sound she made when she saw her. The sounds that she made when Rick …" Daryl looked down. "When Rick did what he had to do. Michonne doesn't deserve to ever go through that. Little Ass Kicker doesn't deserve to see that."

"You're a good man, Daryl."

Daryl shrugged off the attempt at a compliment. If he were really been a good man, Rick wouldn't even have been on that bridge.

Ezekiel wouldn't let him shrug it off. "You're a good man now and you were a good man then. Carol told me what happened. How you held her back. How you kept her from running to her daughter. From joining her. How you held her while she cried her heart out. How you tried to comfort her."

Daryl was surprised, maybe even a little uncomfortable that Ezekiel knew that.

"She said you were the only one that kept looking for Sophia. Who didn't get distracted from the search, who didn't give up. Carol will always be grateful to you for that. You two have history together that I could never – _would_ never - hope to have with her."

Daryl didn't say anything in response to that. This had to be the longest conversation he had ever had with the ruler of the Kingdom, but he still didn't know why the other man was here.

Until he did.

"I finally got Carol to agree to set a date for the wedding."

_tbc_

A/N Thanks for taking the time to read & review.


	2. Chapter 2

_Crossing the Rubicon_

Chapter 2

"I finally got Carol to agree to set a date for the wedding."

"Bout time." Was all that Daryl had to offer as he looked away.

"We set the date months ago. Gabriel is going to be there. He'll officiate. Maggie is coming. Tara, Siddiq, Rosita. Even Eugene. Michonne's been invited – I don't know that she'll come, but she's been invited. Of course, everyone from the Kingdom will be there."

Ezekiel spieled off a regular Who's Who of the post apocalypse world.

"Carol was disappointed - worried even - that she couldn't find you to tell you. You haven't been to any of the settlements in months."

"Been busy."

"The closer to the date we came, the more uneasy Carol seemed to become about your continued absence ..."

Nah. Carol was used to his nomadic ways. Remembering Carol burying that pickaxe into Ed Peletier's skull over and over and over again, Daryl could think of another reason why Carol would have started to get nervous as she got closer to getting married a second time, but not knowing how much or even if Carol had shared about her first marriage, Daryl said nothing to his royal highness.

"… and so I pledged my word that as my wedding present I would find you."

Daryl could feel the other man's eyes on him, but wouldn't turn to look at him.

"I confess a small, unkind part of me hoped that I wouldn't find you in time, yet here we are. The wedding is in three days."

Daryl couldn't exactly say the reason for his lashing out at the other man, but whirling around to face him, Daryl told him. "Message delivered. Obligation fulfilled."

Daryl hoped that that would be the end of it, but Ezekiel didn't move to go. Instead, he seemed ready to go off on one of his soliloquies.

"I adore Carol. She enchanted me upon the moment of our first meeting. The lilt of her voice, her delightful laughter as she smiled at me so dubiously ... "

Daryl didn't doubt him. The way Ezekiel's whole face lit up just talking about Carol, he knew the other man was telling the truth.

"By the time I caught her stealing the fruits of my gardens, she had already stolen my -"

Daryl didn't need to be hearing this. Gruffly, he interrupted him. "- Why you telling me? What? You here looking for my blessing? I ain't her daddy or her brother. Carol's a big girl. She makes her own decisions."

For just a moment, Daryl got King Ezekiel to drop the royalty act as he practically roared back at him. "I'm not here for your permission or your blessings. I'm here to tell you – you need to step up or you need to step_ off._"

But then the act was back. Mostly.

"I love Carol. I love her with all my heart and every fiber of my being and any and every other cliche you want to throw in. I do believe she returns my affections, but though I may sometimes act the part, I am not a fool. I know I do not dwell alone in her heart."

Ezekiel continued. "Carol has never tried to hide the closeness of her friendship with you ..."

Daryl's nostrils flared. He started to ask why should she have to, but Ezekiel beat him to it.

"... Nor would I ask her to … but I did ask her if there had ever been _more _than just friendship between you -"

Daryl cut him off immediately. "There hasn't."

She called him Pookie sometimes.

When they were all on the road together, she always set her bedroll next to his, but that didn't mean nothing or at least nothing like what Ezekiel might make out of it. She knew he was a light sleeper – quick to react to any danger. He just made her feel safe.

One time, back at the prison, up in the watchtower, Carol said it was kind of romantic in the quiet night air. Asked him if he wanted to ...

"Carol flirts." Daryl told him. "Don't mean nothing."

"... Or if she had ever wanted there to be more." Ezekiel finished with a scowl.

Not missing the implication, Daryl just stared at him.

"There are three of us in this relationship and I need to know where you stand. I am offering her my heart, my son, and all of my Kingdom ..."

Ezekiel didn't ask what Daryl could offer her. He didn't have to. A couple of tin cans strung together with barbed wire, a crossbow, and an only sometimes running motorcycle - What you saw was what you got with Daryl Dixon.

" … but I fear it would not be enough – not if she knew that there was an alternative."

Daryl said what they both knew. "If anyone deserves a fancy kingdom and the life of a queen, it's Carol."

"I agree, but is it the life she wants?" Ezekiel asked.

Not knowing what to say, Daryl said nothing.

"I love Carol and I want her to be happy. I would greatly prefer that she be happy with me, but ... more importantly, I want her to be happy. She deserves that. I can live with Carol being in love with us both and being married to me because my alternative is being without Carol."

Daryl could tell that the other man was putting all of his cards on the table.

"The wedding is in three days. All I ask is that if you have intentions that you declare them before we say our vows or forever hold your peace."

Having said his has, Ezekiel remounted his horse and was gone.

_tbc_

A/N Reviews much appreciated.


End file.
